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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960186">Complications Arose</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier'>Brumeier</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate Atlantis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Attempted Kidnapping, Community: romancingmcshep, Explosions, First Kiss, First Meetings, Guide Powers, M/M, Sentinel Senses, Sentinel/Guide, Spirit World</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:48:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,288</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney hated going to mixers at the Sentinel and Guide Center, but he needed a temporary Support Guide. He got a whole lot more when he met John, who was seemingly barely a Guide at all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rodney McKay/John Sheppard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Romancing McShep 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Complications Arose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for Romancing McShep 2020</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“This is a waste of time,” Rodney grumbled.</p>
<p>“You promised to keep an open mind,” Jeannie reminded him.</p>
<p>“No, I didn’t.”</p>
<p>“Yes, you did!”</p>
<p>“Dr. McKay, how nice to see you again.” Director Snyder intervened smoothly, patently fake smile on her face. “And Mrs. Miller. Welcome.”</p>
<p>“You can dispense with the pleasantries,” Rodney said. “Let’s just get this over with.”</p>
<p>He hated coming to the Sentinel and Guide Center. Everyone was so polite and accommodating, and Rodney knew it was all bullshit because he was well aware what an asshole he was. They were only nice to him because he was such a high-level Sentinel, something Rodney had no control over. He’d much rather be fawned over because of the many scientific advancements he’d spearheaded.</p>
<p>“We’re expecting a great turnout this weekend,” Snyder said, leading them to the banquet hall. “This could finally be your moment, Dr. McKay.”</p>
<p>“Let’s hope so,” Jeannie said, one hand resting on the massive expanse of her pregnancy-swollen abdomen.</p>
<p>Rodney mentally cursed Jeannie’s husband Kaleb for the umpteenth time. Their timing couldn’t have been worse. Not to mention, he’d been to plenty of mixers and retreats and never found a compatible Guide. He assumed there wasn’t one out there, for whatever reason.</p>
<p>“Open mind, Mer,” Jeannie said.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah.”</p>
<p>“I hope you both have an enjoyable time,” Snyder said as they reached the banquet hall. “Dinner will be starting soon.”</p>
<p>There was a fair-sized crowd on the other side of the open double doors. Rodney’s skin was crawling, an annoying side effect of being in such close proximity to other Sentinels. The only thing that kept them from devolving into primitive territorial power struggles was the fact that every SAG Center in the country was considered a neutral zone.</p>
<p>“Open bar,” Jeannie said, nudging Rodney to the side of the room.</p>
<p>“I hope you’re not planning on drinking anything alcoholic.” </p>
<p>“Don’t be stupid. I’m jonesing for a seltzer.”</p>
<p>Rodney frowned at her. “No-one joneses for a seltzer.”</p>
<p>“Stop being contradictory. Have some scotch, chill out, talk to some people.”</p>
<p>She didn’t mean people, of course. She meant anyone wearing a nametag with a green strip at the top that said <i>unbonded</i>. Rodney had already done a quick scan of the room. There was no unbonded Guide present that felt like a match for him. Another pointless mixer.</p>
<p>He took a good look at his sister, who was suffering all the usual side-effects of carrying another person in her uterus – back pain, swollen ankles, exhaustion – and felt a twinge of guilt. Rodney knew he wouldn’t find his one true Guide there, but maybe he could find a suitable Support Guide. Just until Jeannie was ready to resume her role.</p>
<p>“Sit down for goodness sake,” he chided, pushing Jeannie into a chair. “I’ll get your seltzer.”</p>
<p>There was a short line at the bar. Rodney queued up behind a lanky guy with crazy cowlicked hair. Even without seeing his nametag, Rodney could tell the guy was a Guide. But he was so low-level he barely pinged Rodney’s radar. He ordered a beer.</p>
<p>“That’s all you’re getting? You know it’s an open bar, right?”</p>
<p>The guy turned around, one eyebrow raised. “You got something against Guinness?”</p>
<p>He may not have pinged as a Guide, but as a good-looking male human being he was checking all the right boxes. Even with the ridiculous hair. His nametag said <i>John</i> and marked him as unbonded.</p>
<p>“Why drink beer when you can have top shelf scotch? Oh, and a seltzer for my sister.”</p>
<p>The bartender nodded.</p>
<p>“It’s not a beer. It’s a Guinness. It’s practically a food group.” </p>
<p>John took a sip, covering his upper lip with the creamy white head. It was impossible for Rodney <i>not</i> to make certain connections with that. He covered his embarrassment by accepting the scotch and Jeannie’s seltzer from the bartender.</p>
<p>“You here looking to partner up?” John asked, looking pointedly at Rodney’s <i>unbonded</i> nametag.</p>
<p>“I’m here because my overly-amorous brother-in-law knocked my sister up, and I need to find support to carry me through till she’s available again.”</p>
<p>Rodney took a swallow of the scotch, opening taste up just enough to really enhance the flavor profile. The one good thing he could say about the SAG Center was that they didn’t skimp on the essentials.</p>
<p>“Oh. Is she your temporary Guide?”</p>
<p>“She’s not a Guide at all. It’s a Familial Bond.”</p>
<p>No Sentinel at Rodney’s level should’ve been able to exist on a Familial Bond alone, but he had. Well, Jeannie plus a low-level suppressant. Rodney didn’t need to use his senses as much as other Sentinels, most of whom were in some type of law enforcement or military service, but he did use them.</p>
<p>“You don’t want a Guide bond?” John asked.</p>
<p>He was asking a lot of questions, but Rodney didn’t mind answering them. John was so low-level that he’d never be considered even a Support Guide for Rodney, which was something he must already know himself, and so there was no worry about anyone getting misled or saying the wrong thing.</p>
<p>“I’m doing fine without one. Why complicate things?”</p>
<p>“We’re not supposed to be complications.”</p>
<p>Rodney shrugged. “But you are.”</p>
<p>“Finally, I’m dying over here.” Jeannie tugged the seltzer out of Rodney’s hand. </p>
<p>“This is my sister, Jeannie,” Rodney said. “She’s ruining my life.”</p>
<p>“I think you have that backward,” Jeannie replied. She and John shook hands. “You want a Sentinel? I’ll let you have him for cheap.”</p>
<p>Rodney gave her a sour look. “Ha, ha. You’re hilarious.”</p>
<p>“I’m not in the market, but thanks,” John said. “Nice meeting you.”</p>
<p>He nodded at both of them and wandered away with his Guinness. Rodney watched him go. If John hadn’t been a Guide, Rodney might have propositioned him. He was good-looking. But Sentinels and Guides, even if they weren’t at all compatible, couldn’t take the chance of casual sex turning into some kind of ill-begotten bond that would be dangerous to both sides.</p>
<p>“He’s cute,” Jeannie said. “And available.”</p>
<p>Rodney shook his head and dropped down in the seat next to his sister. “Too low-level. He barely registers.”</p>
<p>“Too bad.”</p>
<p>The kitchen staff started hauling out pans of food for the buffet, and Rodney was glad for the distraction. Plus, he knew the food would be excellent. One small compensation in an otherwise wasted weekend.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*o*o*o*</p>
</div>“So, you’re the science guy.”<p>John was back, sitting next to Rodney and kicking his feet up on the nearest empty chair. His laces were untied.</p>
<p>The tables in the banquet hall had been moved to make room for dancing. The DJ wasn’t bad – the songs were a nice mix of decades and dance styles – and there were no strobe lights or fog machines or anything else that could potentially send a Sentinel into a zone. </p>
<p>Rodney wasn’t much of a dancer.</p>
<p>“I’m an astrophysicist, not a TV personality,” he clarified snippily.</p>
<p>“Right. Everyone’s buzzing about you getting a Support Guide this weekend.”</p>
<p>Rodney was well aware. He’d felt the feather-light brushes of psychic inquiry ever since he’d pulled Director Snyder aside to talk to her about it. It was intrusive and annoying, and none of those touches had felt like the right one. If there even <i>was</i> a right one.</p>
<p>“I hardly think that’s worthy of buzz.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” John said. “Seems like you’re a big deal around here.”</p>
<p>“Oh, please. My Sentinel abilities are judged on an arbitrary scale that has no science behind it. What we should be talking about is my genius IQ, which is something concrete and measurable.”</p>
<p>“Yeah? You a big brainiac?” John reached for the pitcher of water in the center of the table, condensation having left a wet ring on the white linen tablecloth, and poured himself a glass. </p>
<p>Rodney snorted. “Not that anyone here cares about that, but yes. These other Sentinels, they protect a city or a town. What I’m doing will benefit the entire world. You tell me which one makes more sense.”</p>
<p>He knew the work he was doing was important. He was sure as hell more suited to the lab than a police department or whatever crazy special ops thing the Sentinel and Guide in Hawaii had going on.</p>
<p>“So how come you’re still unbonded?” Rodney asked John. “You seem moderately intelligent, and you’re not bad looking.”</p>
<p>“Wow. Maybe I should put that on my dating profile.” John smirked. “That thing you said earlier, about complications. Ditto.”</p>
<p>“Ditto? Your communication skills are atrocious.”</p>
<p>“I get by.” John nodded his head at the dance floor. “Your sister has some pretty good moves for a pregnant lady.”</p>
<p>Rodney rolled his eyes. It was embarrassing, a woman that close to giving birth shaking her butt so energetically. The Guides she was dancing with were friends of hers, people she’d met during other visits to the SAG Center over the years. They’d accepted her as one of their own even though Jeannie wasn’t a Guide.</p>
<p>“She’s married.”</p>
<p>“Noted.”</p>
<p>It was hard for Rodney to get a read on John. He was casual and friendly and seemed completely uninterested in Rodney except for someone to talk to. If only he wasn’t such a low-level Guide.</p>
<p>“What are you hoping to get out of this weekend?” Rodney couldn’t help asking. “If you’re not looking to bond with a Sentinel, what’s the point of even being here?”</p>
<p>“Maybe I just like hanging out with other Guides.”</p>
<p>That sounded disingenuous, but was it really any of Rodney’s business why John was at the SAG Center?</p>
<p>“Then why are you hanging out with me?”</p>
<p>“You’re more interesting than anyone else here,” John said, lips quirking up in a grin.</p>
<p>Rodney wanted to feel flattered, but he only felt suspicious. “What did you say you did for a living?”</p>
<p>“I didn’t say.”</p>
<p>Rodney dialed up his senses just a little. He got a strong hit of Aqua Velva – did they even still make that? – on top of the scents of shampoo, soap, and John’s natural male musk. John’s heart was beating at a normal pace, his blood pressure was normal…no indicators that he was concerned about Rodney’s questions.</p>
<p>There was something else, though. Something he couldn’t quite pin down, almost as if he was hitting a psychic wall.</p>
<p>And then everything exploded into chaos.</p>
<p>Rodney clapped his hands to his head as a psychic explosion rocked the banquet hall, dropping Guides to the floor. There was an actual explosion, too, and Rodney mentally cranked his hearing dial way down.</p>
<p>“Jeannie!”</p>
<p>He scrambled out of his chair, barely noting that John was no longer in his, and stumbled to the dance floor. Jeannie was on her knees trying to help her friends, who were clearly in distress. People were shouting, Sentinels were going into Blessed Protector mode – and surely some would tip over to feral if their Guides weren’t back online soon – and smoke was filling the banquet hall.</p>
<p>“Jeannie!”</p>
<p>“Mer, what’s happening?”</p>
<p>Jeannie looked up at him with frightened eyes, one arm wrapped protectively over her belly. </p>
<p>“I don’t kn–”</p>
<p>Strong arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him back. Rodney struggled against them, his dials spinning out of control as he lost his focus. He smelled gun oil and sweat and grease paint, could hear pounding heartbeats and the crackle of electrical transmissions. </p>
<p>
  <i>Do you have the target?</i>
</p>
<p>“Mer!” Jeannie screamed.</p>
<p>Rodney planted his feet and brought his head back, catching one of his captors in the face. Now he smelled blood, and it brought his Sentinel powers roaring to the fore as if he’d never taken the suppressants. </p>
<p>He was a scientist, not a soldier, but Rodney had taken a self-defense course a couple of years ago, and he put what he’d learned to use. He pivoted, yanking one arm free and hit the already injured man again, right in the side of the head. He used his knees, his elbows, his shoulders to batter and push at his captors, not stopping until he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his forehead.</p>
<p>“Don’t make me drop you,” a gruff voice said, the man’s face hidden behind camo face paint.</p>
<p>There was no combating a bullet to the brain, Rodney was more than aware of that, but the urge to go down fighting was still pulsing through his veins. Even as he stood there, chest heaving, he was noting all the weak points he could take advantage of.</p>
<p>Before he could make a move, a wave of psychic energy washed over the room, more powerful than anything Rodney had ever experienced. His captors dropped where they stood. The Guides calmed, their distress gone, and were able to help their Sentinels before they started turning on each other. </p>
<p>When that wave moved over Rodney’s skin like a familiar caress, his breath caught in his throat and he had only one thought: <i>mine</i>.</p>
<p>“Dr. McKay? Are you all right?”</p>
<p>Director Snyder was suddenly in front of him, her non-Sentinel security team securing the intruders with zip ties.</p>
<p>“Jeannie,” he said, turning back around to where he’s last seen her. </p>
<p>She was still huddled on the floor, but Rodney could immediately see that something was wrong just by the way she was holding herself. He was at her side in an instant. </p>
<p>“Jeannie! What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“I think…I’m in…labor.”</p>
<p>“Oh, no.” Rodney snapped his fingers and waved Snyder over. “We need to get her to a hospital! Now!”</p>
<p>“Please stay calm, Dr. McKay. We have a birthing suite on site, and the best Guide on staff as an OBGYN.”</p>
<p>“Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”</p>
<p>Rodney was panicked, worried about Jeannie’s safety (women still died in childbirth, didn’t they?), but there was something else too. Another sense of urgency riding along with the impending birth, masked by it so he couldn’t quite make it out.</p>
<p>Snyder’s staff was quick and efficient. In almost no time a gurney had appeared, and Jeannie was being whisked away to the birthing suite that was part of the second-floor medical unit. Sentinels, and sometimes Guides as well, needed specialized medical attention due to their sensitivities. Every SAG Center across the country had dedicated doctors, nurses, and specialists on staff, some of them Sentinels and Guides themselves, others experts at dealing with Sentinels and Guides.</p>
<p>It should have eased Rodney’s mind, but he was still panicking.</p>
<p>When they got to the medical floor, and Jeannie was hooked up to a fetal monitor, Rodney left her in the care of Guide Carson, who was cooing over her in a Scottish accent. He stalked down the hall, following a weak psychic thread to another room.</p>
<p>John’s room.</p>
<p>The man was surrounded by machines all monitoring him for different things – heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity – and there were several other people in the room. But Rodney only had eyes for John, who was much too pale. The delicate veins under his skin stood out in sharp relief, and Rodney didn’t need the monitors to tell him that John was in rough shape.</p>
<p>The psychic bomb must’ve really done a number on him.</p>
<p>“Out of my way,” Rodney snapped. He pushed aside the doctor that was reading a printout from the brain monitor and reached for John’s hand.</p>
<p>The connection was instantaneous, and the only reason Rodney didn’t hit the floor was because someone shoved a chair under him at just the right moment.</p>
<p>
  <i>“Where the hell are we?” he asked, momentarily disoriented from being dragged so quickly into the spirit plane.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“My happy place,” John replied.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>They were on an enormous Ferris Wheel, in those little seats that only had a lap bar. Rodney clutched it once he saw how far away from the ground they were. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Can your happy place be a little less life-threatening?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>John turned to look at him, a solemn expression on his face. “Did I die?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“No, you didn’t. You probably should have. That psychic wave was you, wasn’t it?” Rodney understood a lot more now, just from that one touch of John’s hand. “How did you shield yourself so completely? You barely pinged my radar.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>John shrugged. “I like playing things close to the vest.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. You have to be one of the most powerful Guides on the planet. Why hide it?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Being the best at something makes you a target. Isn’t that right, Dr. McKay?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Rodney thought about the men who’d tried to drag him out of the banquet hall. Had they wanted him for his Sentinel abilities, or for his scientific mind? He was damn sure going to find out. He remembered something else, too.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You’re my Guide. Aren’t you?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>John shrugged again. “Complications, remember? Neither one of us is looking for that.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“But here we are,” Rodney said. He gestured quickly at the blue landscape in front of them, the rolling hills and pine trees and the carnival far below at the base of the Ferris Wheel, before resuming his death grip on the safety bar.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“So what now?” John asked, and Rodney could see the vulnerability beneath the layer of confidence and charm he showed the world.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“We can figure it out. I’m a genius, remember.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>John huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. I remember.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He leaned in, eyes on Rodney’s lips, and Rodney met him halfway. Tasting John was like nothing he’d ever experienced. The empty places Rodney didn’t even realize he’d had slowly filled in with hope and promise and affection. He could sense an echoing loneliness in John and did his best to offer the same promise in return. What had once seemed like a complication now felt like a completion. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>For the first time in his life, Rodney felt whole.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*o*o*o*</p>
</div>“Her name is Madison Jean,” Jeannie said, staring lovingly at the tiny baby in her arms.<p>“She’s beautiful,” John said, looking over Rodney’s shoulder.</p>
<p>Rodney nodded. “It’s the McKay genes. I don’t like to brag, but I was a pretty adorable baby myself.”</p>
<p>Jeannie rolled her eyes. “Kaleb is spreading the news to the rest of the family. First grandchild on both sides.”</p>
<p>“She’ll have quite the birth story to tell when she’s older,” John said.</p>
<p>“And you two will have a pretty good first meeting story, too,” Jeannie replied with a twinkle in her eye.</p>
<p>Rodney tried not to blush. Having a Guide was something he’d talked himself out of wanting a long time ago. But now that he had John, well. There was a third-floor bonding suite waiting for them and Rodney couldn’t wait to get to it, to know John on every level and be known in return. He was pretty sure the sex was going to be amazing.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Jeannie said, reaching out to grab John’s hand. “For what you did. For saving my brother.”</p>
<p>John ducked his head. “Just doing my job.”</p>
<p>Exactly what that job was remained a mystery, at least at the moment. For once in his life, Rodney wasn’t sweating the details. Being with John felt right, and that was all that mattered. They’d figure everything else out later. Together. But first…</p>
<p>“I’ll call you in a few days,” Rodney said, leaning over to kiss Jeannie on the forehead. After a moment’s hesitation, he laid a feather-light kiss on Madison’s forehead too. The newest member of his personal tribe.</p>
<p>“I love you, big brother,” Jeannie said.</p>
<p>“Love you too, Beanie,” he replied, using his childhood nickname for her.</p>
<p>“Now go get your groove on.” Jeannie waggled her eyebrows.</p>
<p>“You’re disgusting.”</p>
<p>“Takes one to know one.”</p>
<p>John dragged Rodney out of the room before they got to the really good name calling.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><b>AN:</b> Holy cow. Let me just tell you, I started out with a partially written fic in mind for this year’s Romancing McShep challenge. I was all set to finish it. And then I got stalled. Oh, no! So I devised a different fic for this challenge, figuring it would be smooth sailing. Nope. With days left before the deadline (and I finished writing this the day of, so there you go) I thought up yet another fic attempt. And this was one (hopefully) successful. Whew!</p>
<p>Special thanks to darkmoore, because discussions of her Sentinel fic inspired mine. You saved the day! And all my gratitude to nagi_schwarz for the last-minute beta. You’re the best!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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